a new life and grateful hearts
by merlucadevotion
Summary: Meredith and Andrew are adjusting to their new life as the parents of a newborn baby girl. Sequel to The Greatest Gift.


**A/N: Hey guys, this story is a follow up to my story The Greatest Gift, which a lot of you seemed to love! That one was one of my favorites that i've written so I hope you all will enjoy this too. And let me know if you want more! Also, I recently posted a new chapter of Looks Like Forever so check that out too if you haven't yet!**

Meredith was sleeping soundly. Well, as soundly as she possibly could given that her and Andrew had been awake every two hours that night, like clockwork. As expected, the sleep didn't last very long. She was awakened from her slumber by the tiny cries of her and Andrew's newborn baby girl in her bassinet near their bed.

On instinct, both her and Andrew got up at the same time.

"It's okay, I've got her. You can sleep." Andrew said to her, rubbing the sleepiness out of his eyes.

"No, you got her last time. It's my turn." Meredith insisted. She got out of bed and went to the kitchen to prepare Lucia's bottle. It was often in moments like these where Meredith took time to reflect. She genuinely believed that she was done having children after her third, but somewhere along the way, all of that changed. So many things had changed. And now here she was, married to Andrew and making a bottle for her fourth child, a beautiful baby girl - half of her and half of Andrew. And she loved that little girl just as much as her older three.

After making the bottle, Meredith went back upstairs and made her way over to the bassinet where her fussy daughter lay.

"Shh. It's okay, sweet girl. Mommy's here." She whispered softly as she cradled the baby in her arms. Her cries began to fade as soon as Meredith picked her up.

The baby opened her eyes, her little lip quivering as she looked up at Meredith.

"See? I told you, mommy's here." Meredith said with a smile. A part of her was still convinced that their baby preferred Andrew over her, but nonetheless she cherished these moments.

She sat down on the rocking chair near the bassinet and began feeding her the bottle. Rocking back and forth slowly, she leaned back in the chair and began humming softly.

Glancing over at the bed, she could see that Andrew's eyes were opened and he was looking at them.

"You can sleep, you know. I would if I were you." Meredith chuckled softly.

"Nah, I mean who needs sleep when I can just lay here and admire my beautiful girls?" Andrew said.

Meredith grinned, shaking her head. "Well, if you insist."

Andrew eased into this new chapter of their life even better than Meredith imagined. Of course, he was excellent with Zola, Bailey, and Ellis, always had been, but a newborn was an entirely different experience.

She looked back on the first week or two of having Lucia home with them. The mixture of exhaustion and the purest unconditional love they would ever feel. Meredith didn't think it was possible, but ever since their baby's arrival she found herself falling even deeper in love with Andrew. One night, she woke up and saw that his spot on the bed was empty and so was the baby's crib. She went downstairs only to discover the most beautiful sight. Andrew was laying on the couch, their baby girl on his chest and both were sleeping peacefully. Her heart was practically bursting at the seams.

Still on their respective maternity leave, paternity leave for Andrew, they were adjusting to this new life together the best they could and if Andrew was under any type of stress or major exhaustion he never showed it. She both envied it and found it admirable.

_Meredith remembered rocking little Lucia in her arms trying to soothe her but nothing seemed to be working. She was fed, she was changed, and Meredith was at her wits end on what to do._

_Though she had been through his three times before, it didn't make it any less frustrating, topped with the fact that the baby seemed to not be taking well to her comfort._

_"Just take her, Andrew. She likes you way more, anyway." Meredith said._

_"Mer, you know that's not true." Andrew replied._

_"Yes it is! As soon as you hold her, she calms down. You sing to her and everything. She loves you." Meredith argued._

_"And she loves you too, Meredith." Andrew said._

_Meredith didn't respond, instead focusing her attention back on trying to soothe her daughter who continued to cry._

_"Can you take her, Andrew? Please?" Meredith said. Her eyes becoming glossy with tears._

_Andrew's eyes softened, his heart breaking for his wife and wishing he had the right words to make this better. He held out his arms for the baby and Meredith handed her to him._

_Within a few short moments, the crying stopped._

_"My own daughter hates me. Isn't that just lovely?" Meredith snatched the burping blanket she had draped over her shoulder and tossed it to the ground before storming out of the room._

_"Meredith-" Andrew called after her._

_Meredith ignored him and kept going. Immediately, she regretted the harshness of her words and actions. The combination of her hormones still adjusting from all those shots she'd had to get just to make their little miracle happen, the entire journey of surrogacy, and the lack of sleep finally taking its toll on her._

_Once Andrew was able to get their daughter to sleep, he went to find Meredith._

_She was tidying up in the living room when Andrew walked in._

_"Hey." Andrew said softly._

_Meredith sighed and placed the laundry basket she was carrying down onto the floor. She walked up to Andrew._

_"Hey, I just wanna say I'm sorry for earlier. I'm just.. so exhausted, Andrew." Meredith said as she wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his chest._

_"I know, I know, it's okay." Andrew reassured her. He kissed the top of her head. "But what you said about our daughter hating you? I need you to know that it's the furthest thing from the truth. I don't ever want you thinking that, not even for a second."_

_"I'm sorry about that. Again, it's probably just these hormones." Meredith answered._

_"You're her mother. She loves you, Meredith. And she needs you just as much as she needs me. Actually, more." Andrew told her._

_Meredith smiled, holding onto him a little tighter and snuggling more into his chest. "I love you, Andrew. And I love this life we've built together."_

_"I love you too. I wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world." Andrew replied._

——-

Once Meredith was done feeding her, the baby was wide awake now which meant she was as well.

She went over to the bed and laid her down.

She took this time, as she found herself doing often, to simply watch her daughter and admire her every feature. She had the most beautiful head of dark brunette curls and the chubbiest little rosy cheeks. She had Meredith's sparkling emerald eyes, which she was of course was grateful for. Absolutely beautiful and perfect in every way.

"Hi baby girl. Mommy loves you." Meredith cooed sweetly to the baby.

Baby Luci smiled at her in response and naturally er heart melted into a puddle.

Just then, she heard little footsteps approaching her room and the door opening. It was Ellis who had just woken up.

"Is sissy awake?" She asked, peering up onto the bed.

"She sure is. Come join the party." Meredith said, helping her get up on the bed.

"Hi Luci!" Ellis said to the baby, greeting her with a kiss on the cheek and rubbing her hair.

Both Meredith and Andrew watched the sweet interaction shared between Ellis and Luci with grateful hearts.

It didn't take very long before they were joined by Zola and Bailey and now the family of six were all cuddled on the bed.

"So, what does everyone want for breakfast?" Andrew asked.

"Pancakes!" Bailey said.

"Waffles!" Ellis replied.

"Strawberry french toast!" Zola added.

Andrew laughed. "Well, I can't make _all_ of that."

"I know! How about we go out for breakfast? That way, everyone can get what they want." Zola suggested.

"That's not a bad idea, actually. Good thinking, Zo." Meredith said.

A nice morning out to breakfast with her family was exactly what Meredith needed, what they all needed, really.

Adjusting to life with the new baby meant less time for family outings like they used to, and she missed it.

So they all got dressed and headed out for breakfast at a local diner that was located right down the road from the house.

The start of another perfect day.


End file.
